Video games can be just as terrifying as movies, TV shows, and books. In some cases, even more so, since you are occupying the space of a character put into some uncomfortable positions. From the menacing creep of zombies in Resident Evil, to the heart-attack-inducing cat-and-mouse style play of Alien Isolation or the dark jump-scare-filled corridors of Doom 3 - video games can have you jumping back from your screen in horror.
But sometimes, it's not a monster that makes your skin crawl. The moment of horror can be a situation the game puts you in, the context of what you're seeing play out on the screen, or just a game mechanic that makes your pulse pound because of the in-game implications a situation might cause. It's these kinds of moments that show the true genius of game design.
10 Realizing The Oceans Have Drained In Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 heaps plenty of dread onto you throughout the main story campaign. The Combine has taken over Earth and ground down its population under the boot of constant oppression. Valve does a wonderful job of showing you the brutal nature of this occupation through a multitude of subtle and not-so-subtle details.
After Gordon Freeman gets past Ravenholm, the long coastline is unveiled in front of you in a section that is actually several miles long within the game world itself. It doesn't make you stop for a cutscene, or beat you over the head with the horrifying detail, but along the coast, the Earth's oceans are emptying. When you realize this, it hits like a gut punch. The Combine isn't just here to subjugate the populace but drain the planet of its natural resources - and they are doing just that.
9 Seeing The Blue Shell in Mario Kart Start To Circle Above You
You're having a fantastic race in Mario Kart, leaving your friends in the dust and nothing can put a damper on your mood. Then you hear some beeping and your stomach drops. A blue shell circles above your character and there is nothing you can do as it happily drops to the ground and sends your kart spinning out of control.
That first place, depending on how late in the race this moment happens, can quickly turn to second place, or third place... or worse. Nothing causes more initial terror during a Mario Kart race than that dastardly blue shell.
8 That Moment When You Hear "Nuclear Launch Detected" in StarCraft
StarCraft and StarCraft 2 define the real-time strategy genre, and it's easy to see why with the wide variety of attacks and units you can unleash upon your enemies. The Terran race has perhaps the most infuriating and devastating mid to late-game attack as Ghost units can unleash a nuclear bomb on an enemy base.
If you're on the receiving end, you hear a matter-of-fact voice go "nuclear launch detected" causing you to scramble around your base looking for a small blinking dot to indicate a Ghost has you tagged. You then have to frantically bring in a detector unit to find said ghost, and you hope your units can kill it before your base finds itself in another game: Fallout.
7 Selling Something In Diablo And Realizing You Sold the Wrong Item
This particular point rings true for any entry in the Diablo series: nothing is more terrifying than selling a highly valued item by mistake to an NPC. While the inventory system has been improved greatly with each installment of the game, the fast-paced nature of Diablo games means you can get hypnotized by the grindy nature of selling things, and accidentally part with an invaluable piece.
To add insult to injury, the NPC who just bought the item will then turnaround and try to sell it back to you for a ridiculously marked-up price. This is true terror and while there are no monsters in Diablo's inventory system, it can have the sharpest bite of anything in the game.
6 Playing Max Payne For The First Time And Coming Home To A Murdered Family
Max Payne was hard-hitting when it was released in 2001, showcasing bullet time, great graphics, and a comic-style of narration. The player, however, will have a tough time playing through the nightmare level of the first game as Payne relives coming home to his murdered family.
This can be extremely tough, especially for gamers with kids and a partner in real life. It's so well done, and really shows great command of both abstract level design and emotional toying.
5 That Feeling When Link In "Zelda: Breath Of The Wild" Isn't Going To Make It
You think you can make it to that ledge in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but your stamina bar has drained quicker than expected. Now you're hundreds of feet up on a rocky cliff and out of options.
No game has created more heart-stopping moments while moving through the open world than BOTW. "Can I make it? Can I make it? Ohh Nooo!" has been muttered more than a few times by gamers trying to get over that next mountain ridge - only to see Link fall to his doom.
4 Trying To Do The Eye Needle In Dead Space 2
In Dead Space 2, the game's main character Isaac Clarke has to access data from the computer by inserting a needle through his pupil. Dead Space 2's own director said he could barely watch the scene, and he made the game.
Anything to do with the eye, usually has people twitching. Throw in a gruesome scene if you don't guide the needle just right - and this will be something that will haunt players for years to come.
3 When You Find Out Your Minecraft World Has Been Corrupted
The ultimate sunk-cost is when the Minecraft world that you have spent countless hours on has been corrupted. Your hand-crafted farms, intricate buildings, and finishing touches, all gone.
After this happens, you may frantically Google something online to see if there is a quick fix, terrified that all that virtual work is now all for nothing. Alas, your world is gone, lost to the seas of scrambled binary code. For this reason, we advise that you regularly back up your saves!
2 Experiencing Stroggification In Quake 4
Quake 4 makes you extremely uncomfortable with its "Stroggification" of the main character. The main enemy, the Stroggs, capture you and proceed to perform cybernetic augmentation in an attempt to turn your character into a Strogg soldier. This includes the hacking off of body parts and the fusing of bone and machine.
You as the player just have to sit there and watch the body horror unfold on the screen. In a largely normal first-person shooter, the Stroggification scene still stands out as a real squirmish moment in gaming history.
1 Outrunning the Angry Sun in Mario Bros. 3
This was many children's introduction to anxiety. In Super Mario Bros. 3, when you reach the second world, you'll enter one stage where there is a rather angry-looking sun in the corner. He'll stay still for a bit but when he starts wiggling, horror usually cascades over you when you play this level for the first time.
The sun... is ... coming... after... Mario! You then have to run through the rest of the level, dodging attacks from - not a monster - but rather the center of our solar system.